E3 2006: Gran Turismo HD Shown

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Technical capabilities of PS3 proven with GT4 assets.

By Jeff Haynes

At Sony's press conference this evening, we were shown a number of tracks from the upcoming Gran Turismo 5 (or Vision GT, or whatever it's going to be called) in the form of "Gran Turismo HD." Kazunori Yamauchi, the director of every game in the series presented the demo, which has only been in development for a few weeks, uses Gran Turismo 4's in-game assets, and was running in 1080p.

According to Yamauchi, GT HD will be one of the first times that a television would ever display a non-compressed high definition signal. In fact, GT HD supposedly runs at three times the detail of regular HD broadcasts currently shown on HD-capable cable and satellite boxes with 12 times the detail of Gran Turismo 4 on PS2.

The demo's title screen says it all.

Yamauchi showed off three of the four levels confirmed to be available for play on the E3 show floor, including Tokyo and the Grand Canyon level, as well as some of the vehicles. A number of driving classes, including racing and commercial vehicles and even scooters, are also selectable. As the game loaded, Yamauchi pointed out that the included hard drive will dramatically reduce load times, making selection of a track and the start of a race almost immediate.

Yamauchi also made the comparison between the original title on the PlayStation, GT4 on the PS2 and finally the GT HD demo on the PS3. He also stated that while the Gran Turismo series took about a year and a half to make, Gran Turismo 5 should be released rather close to the launch of the system. Yamauchi also stated that the next Gran Turismo game will definitely surpass that of Gran Turismo HD, and that he expects the addition of online play to will make the world of Gran Turismo "not expand, but explode."